Willie turns the game, and fans

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Willie Mason knew the crowd at Telstra Stadium wasn't chanting "Blues" when he made his entry onto the field in last night's opening State of Origin match.

Mason, arguably one of the most scrutinised, analysed and criticised player in the history of the code, was loudly booed as he took his place from the interchange bench midway through the first half.

All week, he'd taken the bullets for his teammates by becoming the focal point of the scandal that cost Mark Gasnier and Anthony Minichiello their NSW spots.

The attention had been relentless, but he knew he couldn't let it get to him. Not just for his own sake, but that of the team.

As Blues coach Phil Gould said: "If Willie had succumbed to the pressure, we would have all succumbed to the pressure."

But just as he had during the three-month-long Bulldogs saga over sexual-assault allegations, Mason managed to ignore the vocal campaign against him and carry on as normal.

Whatever happened in Coffs Harbour, Bulldogs insiders insist Mason was nowhere near it, and his attitude was he had nothing to hide. Day in and day out he'd front up to answer the tough questions, virtually becoming the public face of the scandal.

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"All of the pressure was on me and I wasn't going to let it get me down," Mason said. "If I was down, everyone else was going to be down. It's infectious. Every time I'd look at the paper, I was on the front page. I didn't even read it in the end. It would make you feel pretty ordinary if you read all of that stuff, which wasn't even true. But it's all positive now."

Mason's performance last night had a lot to do with the Blues' 9-8 extra-time win.

Somehow he seems to thrive on adversity and it was no different in his second Origin match. He said he'd been aware of the crowd's reaction, but he refused to let it faze him.

"I'd have to have ear plugs in not to have heard them," Mason said. "I knew it was going to happen. I braced myself for that. I knew the only way to shut them up was to play good and win."

Almost as soon as he crossed the sideline in the 26th minute as a replacement for Brent Kite, Mason injected himself into the game. Just one tackle after coming on, he was bending back the Queensland defence with a charging run.

Every set of six tackles while he was on the field featured at least one Mason run.

In defence, he was just as effective - monstering Maroons five-eighth Chris Flannery on one occasion during his first stint and shaking the ball from Shane Webcke with a bone-rattling hit just before full-time.

Each play lifted his team-mates, as did Mason's talk.

With six debutants and few other players experienced at dealing with the drama the Blues had been through in the lead-up to the match, Mason, 24, realised he was suddenly one of the senior members of the team - even if chosen only on the interchange.

As the NSW side endured four repeat sets on its own line just before half-time, Mason's was the loudest voice.

"Let's go, Blues," he'd yell to his teammates, clapping his hands as he did so. "Blues, Blues, another six tackles. Let's go."

A rampaging run by Mason near the Queensland line just after half-time put NSW in position for man-of-the-match Shaun Timmins to reach out and grab his side's first try in the 46th minute. "I tried my best while I was on there," Mason said. "We were calling them Origin runs and Origin tackles. I just tried to run as hard as I can and tackle as hard as I can."

Having done the job coach Phil Gould had sent him out to do, Mason was replaced but he came back on 20 minutes later after Queensland centre Brent Tate levelled the scores at 8-8.

His 78th-minute tackle on Webcke forced the ball out near the Maroons line and might have been the turning point of the game if Blues halfback Craig Gower hadn't dropped the ball preparing for a field goal.

"He's just grown more and more as a man in my eyes than you could believe," Gould said of Mason. "He was terrific for us tonight and terrific all week. When I find out what his involvement was in a few things over the past six months, he's done very little wrong, and I've got a real admiration for the way he has stuck it out."